Kaon woke after exactly two hours of sleep.
Things had been moving so urgently that he had no choice.
Temporary though it might be, he had been given the grand title of commander of the suppression force.
Naturally, a commander responsible for an entire army had countless things to worry about.
Even though the knights directly under Kaon—the Imperial Third Knight Order—had spent the whole night making preparations, things were still lacking.
Duke Langpine, commander of the Central Army, had gone to the trouble of preparing elite legionaries for Kaon, yet Kaon had thrown that aside and insisted on reorganizing the entire force as cavalry. Everyone involved had to be going through hell.
In other words, Kaon had become a massive pain in the ass.
‘Can’t be helped.’
He went to find Duke Langpine, who was still working at dawn, apologized to him, then made his way to the office of the supply commander.
Lights were burning here and there.
This had all begun because of Kaon’s stubbornness, but an imperial order had already been issued. They had no choice but to work.
The guards saluted Kaon.
When he reached the marquis’s office, the old man let out a sigh that made his displeasure obvious.
“Haa…… You have come.”
His face was exhausted.
This man in his early sixties was Kaon’s great-uncle.
Despite possessing considerable power within the Empire, he had refused to help his younger brother and allowed him to fall into ruin as a disgraced noble.
And yet, this same man had played the decisive role in making Kaon’s mother the Second Empress and had monopolized the sweet fruits that followed.
Of course, Kaon held no personal grudge.
This was the man who had practically ground his maternal family into dust, but it was Kaon’s first time seeing him in person.
Externally, the story of his mother’s family was known that way, but internally, things had been more complicated.
Kaon’s maternal grandfather had been so debauched and hopeless that he had caused enormous damage to the family.
One way or another, the private affairs of nobles were endlessly complicated.
For Kaon, all that mattered was using the marquis however he could and taking the benefits for himself.
Just as the marquis himself had done.
“The reason I came to see you, Marquis, has nothing to do with supplies. I’m sure you’ll handle something like that without me having to say anything.”
He did not particularly resent the man, but he acted as though he did.
In truth, that was harder.
Kaon made his expression look a little like that of an immature child.
The marquis had ruthlessly purged his younger brother for the sake of the family and used his niece, but it would make no sense if he felt absolutely nothing for his niece’s son.
The emotional part.
That was what Kaon intended to strike.
“Then why have you come here, Your Highness? You already have more than enough work to do.”
“Great-Uncle, am I truly of your blood?”
“…….”
The marquis’s pupils trembled slightly.
It was an attack he had not expected.
‘It worked.’
Perhaps that was one thing in youth, but people were said to grow softer with age.
Even those who once wielded merciless blades eventually mellowed when death drew near.
There came a time when they realized that after death, the wealth and power they had possessed while alive meant nothing.
“Am I?”
“……You are.”
“That is—”
“What if I told you all of it was an act?”
The marquis’s expression twisted slightly.
Even Kaon, who was actually saying the words, felt his hands and feet curl from embarrassment. The marquis could only be suffering worse.
But if Kaon wanted to pull off one major score and get out cleanly, the marquis’s help was absolutely necessary.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“Great-Uncle, if I win, grant me one request. If you do, I will forget every grievance from the past.”
“Huh.”
From the marquis’s perspective, it was checkmate.
Some guilt toward his younger brother had probably always remained in his heart.
The same likely applied to Kaon’s mother, his niece.
He had probably never imagined he would be forgiven in his lifetime, yet now the person involved was approaching him like this. There was no easy way to put what he must have been feeling into words.
“Is it impossible?”
“You got me. Seeing how much Your Highness has grown leaves me with complicated feelings. You likely have no idea what is going through my mind.”
“Using even a person’s feelings. Is that not one of the fundamentals of politics?”
“Ha ha ha! Then tell me. How exactly would you like me to help?”
“Well……”
Kaon explained his plan to the marquis.
After hearing the whole thing, the marquis was visibly shocked.
“Are you serious!?”
“I need to make my own preparations as well.”
“This is……”
Kaon’s words implied many things.
A bid for the throne.
With the Crown Prince coughing up blood and his condition deteriorating beyond hope, it was no secret that the Second Prince and Third Prince would have to compete.
The emperor’s health was also worsening, to the point that he postponed court every other day.
There were numerous other rumors circulating as well.
For now, the fact that the Third Prince had finally come to his senses was enough to earn him considerable credit.
The marquis nodded.
“You have arranged matters so I cannot possibly escape. Very well. If a miracle occurs and Your Highness wins the battle, not only will I help with everything you have just described, I will also reconsider my opinion of you.”
“That is enough.”
Kaon rose from his seat.
Even after he left, the marquis remained seated, trying to sort through his complicated emotions.
As Kaon walked out of the office, he thought.
Everything was turning against him, and now that the author’s revenge had begun, it was making his blood run dry.
But Kaon had been an avid reader of this novel.
As long as he knew the future, there was still a chance.
Strengthening his resolve, he headed toward the garrison—only to run straight into the Second Prince.
Beside him, as always, was Marquis Gales, who followed him like a shadow.
He was the Second Prince’s father-in-law and the head of the Second Prince’s faction.
He was also deputy commander of the imperial army, making him a man who stood near the center of power.
“I greet the commander of the suppression force.”
The marquis bowed politely, but his expression was anything but polite.
Having survived so long in politics, his conduct was extremely restrained.
Still, the situation made his intentions obvious.
Anyone could tell he had come both to spy and to get under Kaon’s skin.
‘No wonder I had a bad feeling about last night.’
Though ever since getting reincarnated, transmigrated, or whatever this was, he had rarely slept properly anyway.
Kaon tried to walk straight past the Second Prince, but apparently fate would not allow it.
“Give up, even now.”
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“I do not know what suddenly possessed you to oppose me, but it will end with your blood being spilled. I give you this warning as a brother with whom you once shared a close bond. If it becomes too difficult, simply throw your troops forward and flee back here. They are already discussing internally how to organize the next expeditionary force. In other words, they believe there is no hope.”
“…….”
“If you promise me here and now, I will even carve out a small territory for you. This is a promise made as a member of the imperial family, so do not take it lightly.”
Kaon’s eyebrow twitched.
Give up here?
Fine. Suppose, with every possible concession, that the Second Prince was telling the truth.
Would the author leave Kaon alone just because of that?
The author had already interfered with even the emperor’s intentions and twisted the main course of the novel. If Kaon crawled into some corner without gaining anything, there was no way he would be allowed to keep his life.
If there had been no author intervention, the offer would have been worth serious consideration.
But right now, Kaon needed to oppose the Second Prince and seize power.
That was the only way to survive.
“I appreciate your words, Brother, but I have circumstances that do not allow me to give up.”
“Are those circumstances truly worth risking your life?”
“Even if I am driven to the frontier, the moment I am pushed away from the center of power, I am as good as dead anyway.”
“I do not understand.”
“I did not say it because I expected you to.”
“This is the last chance I can offer you as your brother. If you leave this place without making that promise, then from the next time we meet, I will regard you as an enemy.”
There was a sliver of consideration in the Second Prince’s words.
At the same time, there was a chilling warning.
This was the last time he was willing to go easy on him.
The fact that Kaon, a rival claimant, had remained alive until now was probably because the Second Prince had never truly decided to kill him.
Getting blood on his own hands would only damage his reputation, and Kaon’s faction had been so weak that there had been no reason to purge him.
The problem was what happened if Kaon tried to oppose the Second Prince by any means necessary.
The Second Prince, who was portrayed as fairly intelligent, had already guessed that Kaon might have discussed something with the marquis inside Supply Command.
“Brother, if by some one-in-ten-million miracle I win, I will think twice at least once before swinging my sword at you.”
“We are enemies now.”
With that, Kaon turned away.
Once he had disappeared, Marquis Gales let out a long sigh.
“I truly cannot understand His Highness the Third Prince’s intentions.”
“He is, after all, a claimant to the throne. Is it not natural for ambition to stir? With Elder Brother collapsed like that, he probably wants to gamble on his chances.”
“I never thought His Highness the Third Prince was so ambitious.”
“They say there are no parents or siblings when power is involved.”
“Will you truly kill him?”
“I would rather not, if possible. But if he opposes me and tries to swing his sword at me, what choice will I have?”
“I hope it does not come to that.”
“Tch. The expedition will fail anyway. Once he is buried out on the frontier, perhaps he will finally kneel.”
Even now, the Second Prince did not believe for even a moment that his younger brother could perform a miracle.
***
Dawn began to brighten the sky.
What perfect weather for war.
It was early spring and still a little chilly, but considering the insane pace at which they would soon have to march, this weather was actually better.
As promised, Duke Langpine provided two thousand cavalrymen.
The plan had changed so suddenly that assembling such a force in a single day could not have been easy. It reminded Kaon why the man was commander-in-chief.
‘Could I absorb Duke Langpine’s faction?’
Kaon shook his head.
It was far too soon to think that far ahead.
He needed to have something tangible in his hands before he could even think about swaying the nobles of the capital.
“To the commander!”
“Salute!”
The cavalrymen moved with discipline.
There were a few mediocre-looking men mixed in, but this was still the Central Army.
Their training was decent.
The problem was morale.
They had been gathered to defeat thirty thousand enemy troops, yet the idea of crushing that many men with only two thousand looked completely absurd.
At times like this, he needed to give them a concrete objective so they did not even have time to dwell on such thoughts.
“We will cover one hundred kilometers a day.”
“……!”
“We will reach our destination in five days, then strike the enemy at dawn the following day.”
Murmur, murmur.
The ranks stirred.
They were clearly wondering what kind of insane plan this was.
But the truly crazy part had not even begun.
“Travel as lightly armed as possible. Strip away all unnecessary heavy armor. We will move in light gear, and each man will carry only five days of food.”
“Your Highness! Then how are we supposed to resupply?”
“We take it from the enemy.”
The cavalrymen’s faces twisted.
Things just kept getting worse.
Light equipment, and provisions packed as if there were no tomorrow.
It was an ignorant plan that relied on resupplying in enemy territory, and anyone who fell behind was as good as dead.
That was exactly what Kaon wanted.
‘That way, they’ll run like their lives depend on it.’
“We will win. Are our preparations lacking? The enemy is no different. Picture what it will look like when they are suddenly taken by surprise. There is no such thing as perfect readiness in war. I will hand victory to all of you and see every one of you promoted!”
Kaon used every bit of rhetoric he had to forcibly raise morale.
Promotions, rewards, spoils of war—he dangled everything he could think of before them.
Only after selling them the dream for quite some time did the mood finally begin to settle.
Then came his final words.
“Any refusal will be punished as insubordination. Advance!”
And so began an insane march of five hundred kilometers in five days.